quarta-feira, julho 22, 2009

HelloFolks, here is Antonio, I'm here to post a comment of Felipe about his Graphic Novel, "Light of Thy Countenance", where he talks about the process of creation of the comic, what he felt and make to accomplish this great masterpiece!

“Think not that gods find no enjoyment in apocalypse: It is our noblest sport.” Making the Graphic Novel “Light of thy Countenance”

In the end of 2006, after passing one entire year without getting any work at all in the comic industries, I was contacted by my agent Joe Prado, he phoned me with a great surprise “Felipe, I got an Alan Moore comic for you”. I found it very strange, how in earth “Alan Moore”? I would start my career with something related to the genius comic book writer of Northampton?

Exactly!

It would be an adaptation to comics of a story written by the master in 1994 and published in the anthology FORBIDDEN ACTS, while we were translating the complicated (for me) script in british English, and the AVATARPRESS was collecting some references for me, I had painted a pin-up book of Lady Death (character of Brian Pulido), to gain some time (and money).

As soon as I received the script and the numerous references for the Graphic, I stated to make the layouts for the pages. The story was fantastically strange and experimental, I throw myself into this insane universe to create this piece, I was passing through a hard moment in my life and maybe this had some reflexes in the pages…

In many aspects of the story it reminds me the style of Promethea series, the own television narrates its (maybe his, or her, or “hir”) creation and influence in the human life as it was a God, it mocks of its slaves with “Alan Mooriest” phrases, with strong and well-written speech, like we can read in the page 16:

“For I am He, the voice you turned to in your loneliness. I am the one who shrank the mountains and the jungles; shrank whole wars and brought them unto you in bottles. In your billions you adore me, faces underlit with grace. I am the length and breadth of your reality and all your dearest thoughts are but extensions of my own, my perfect dreming mercy, born in brightness. I am He for whom you put aside the ones you love, and on my altars human time is gladly sacrificed, whole lives evaporated in my pure and glimmering heat. I am the silence of the will. In me are past and present both remade, and in me is a promise of the world to come, sweet lux aeterna, radiance without end.”

Mixing tons of historical references and lysergic trips in the script, I spent months painting the pages, and also painting other covers for Avatar. The whole process last more than I expected because of this interruptions, but the results pleased me a bit, when the graphic came out in the beginning of this year (2009), I had evolve lots of in my style since I first started to paint it. And also, it was a great opportunity to have my name related with the Northampton Wizard.

The website Comic Book Resources asked in the month of the comic release to the master what he thought about the adaptation, he said: “Felipe Massafera and Anthony Johnston's adaptation of Light of Thy Countenance is probably more gripping than the original story. I’m immensely pleased.”

I confess that when I read that I laughed with immense joy for weeks, thinking in all the terrible lonely nights I spent drawing wasn’t for nothing.

I left here the best wishes for some people who helped me, posing for the story, without them, this work wouldn’t never be born: To Aline Manera, who gave life to Maureen Cooper, the main character of the comic; Mateus Trentin, Rogério Magrão, my mother, Nair Massafera, my brother-in-law Fernando Scheidt, my sister Giane and my nephew Ian, and to my cat Shaky who died while this novel was been made, she, more than appearing in the story, was my only companion, because she used to stay at my studio, laying down over my comic books and even over my paintings! (laughs).

“Massafera delivers a very striking and different cover image. The bloody cross could either be representative of the medical profession or the uniform of the Crusaders. The hand is either proclaiming victory or going with the British version of the finger, and it makes the viewer want to determine the connection between the two major elements. As discussed in earlier columns, the juxtaposition of two things that don’t normally go together, and may have multiple meanings, is a useful tool for the cover artist. The hand is nicely rendered, the contrast is high and the concept is strong.”